Hellenic gods: are they completely good

[EverChanging]

The most common view I have seen among polytheists is that the gods are imperfect, but this site says the gods contain nothing dark or evil within themselves. How common is the belief among Hellenic reconstructionists that the gods are completely good?

Goodness of the Gods - www.HellenicGods.org

 

[Quintessence]

I'm not sure anyone really knows the answer to that question, as I don't know if anyone has done a targeted survey of Hellenic Pagans. If such a study has been done, there are a couple journals that come to mind which might have such a publication. First is The Pomegranate, the other is Nova Religio. There may be a few other journals to check as well. I might see if I can find anything if I have the time.

 

[The Emperor of Mankind]

The most common view I have seen among polytheists is that the gods are imperfect, but this site says the gods contain nothing dark or evil within themselves. How common is the belief among Hellenic reconstructionists that the gods are completely good?

Goodness of the Gods - www.HellenicGods.org

I'm a Hellenist but not a reconstructionist so I hope you don't mind me chiming in. I don't believe the gods are completely good or completely evil. Such stances don't really make sense to me because such positions are based on too arbitrary a set of criteria. One of the few rules I've discovered is more often true about the gods than not is if a deity is a deity of X then they're a deity of all aspects of X rather than just the parts we might consider good.

For example, Dionysos is a god of wine, ecstasy & liberation (among other things). But he's also a bringer of sorrow, madness & nightmares brought on by excessive consumption & alcoholism. The first three are what most people would consider 'good', the latter three are 'bad' things.
Aphrodite is a goddess of love, lust & sex (among other things). However she also has a reputation as being a Killer of Men (Androphonos), associations with war (Areia) because men would take up the sword to defend their families, and of being a patroness of prostitutes (Porne).

So no, the gods are not 'completely good', neither are they 'completely evil'.

EDIT: I should clarify something. I included Aphrodite's aspect of protecting prostitutes not because I think prostitution is a bad thing or it's wrong to want to keep sex workers safe; but because societies tend to look down on prostitution as immoral or wicked.

 

[Worshipper]

The most common view I have seen among polytheists is that the gods are imperfect, but this site says the gods contain nothing dark or evil within themselves. How common is the belief among Hellenic reconstructionists that the gods are completely good?

Goodness of the Gods - www.HellenicGods.org

I'm not a Hellenic pagan, but I am a reconstructionist. I have two comments on this.

First, oh my, how blessed Hellenic Reconstructionists are! What a long list of diverse, firsthand Palæopagan sources that site draws on! If any Heathen could back up any claim about our religion so powerfully, it'd be mic drop time. However, precisely because this is possible in Hellenism, one wonders how much cherry-picking went into that selection.

Second, I don't quite read the webpage's claim the same way you seem to. Right out of the gate they reject moral dualism as a tool to understand reality, insisting instead that we view nature as natural. Then they tie that to the idea that the gods are wholly good by asserting Their utter naturalness.

Rather than being a different way to view the gods, this page seems to invite us to a new way to view goodness. And then, of course, to re-evaluate our previous thoughts about divine imperfection from the new perspective.

Aphrodite is a goddess of love, lust & sex (among other things). However she also has a reputation as being a Killer of Men (Androphonos), associations with war (Areia) because men would take up the sword to defend their families, and of being a patroness of prostitutes (Porne).

Did you forget to include some bad stuff in this list?

 

[EverChanging]

I'm not a Hellenic pagan, but I am a reconstructionist. I have two comments on this.

First, oh my, how blessed Hellenic Reconstructionists are! What a long list of diverse, firsthand Palæopagan sources that site draws on! If any Heathen could back up any claim about our religion so powerfully, it'd be mic drop time. However, precisely because this is possible in Hellenism, one wonders how much cherry-picking went into that selection.

Second, I don't quite read the webpage's claim the same way you seem to. Right out of the gate they reject moral dualism as a tool to understand reality, insisting instead that we view nature as natural. Then they tie that to the idea that the gods are wholly good by asserting Their utter naturalness.

Rather than being a different way to view the gods, this page seems to invite us to a new way to view goodness. And then, of course, to re-evaluate our previous thoughts about divine imperfection from the new perspective.


Did you forget to include some bad stuff in this list?

Yes, that makes sense. I did notice they may be working with a nuanced definition of "good" there.

 

[von bek]

I'm a Hellenist but not a reconstructionist so I hope you don't mind me chiming in. I don't believe the gods are completely good or completely evil. Such stances don't really make sense to me because such positions are based on too arbitrary a set of criteria. One of the few rules I've discovered is more often true about the gods than not is if a deity is a deity of X then they're a deity of all aspects of X rather than just the parts we might consider good.

^This. Apollo is the great healer, He also sends disease. One of the key things in understanding the Hellenic gods is grasping the importance of the epithets they possess. These epithets show us the diversity within each deity and how they relate in different manners at different times. Typically, when addressing a god or goddess, you do not simply pray to them in their name, you also invoke a specific epithet. For example, Hermes Eriones is Hermes as the god of good luck. Artemis Phosphorus is Artemis as the light-bringer, Artemis Agrotere is Artemis of the hunt. I devote much worship to Artemis Tauropolos, in this aspect I invoke Her as a mighty and savage protectress.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

Just an FYI: that site is a great wealth of information however it is from an Orphic viewpoint.

 

[VioletVortex]

I'm in the midst of a religious "schism" right now, but being associated with Paganism, I will say that yes, the gods of any Pagan religion are all positive, containing both within and amongst themselves both darkness and light. They provide balance to each other.